4-H holds memorial for Ashley Irwin

AShley Irwin

Courtesy photo

Posted
Wednesday, September 17, 2008 11:23 am

By Tim Barnum
Staff writer

MASON TOWNSHIP — A memorial horse speed show on Sept. 27 will remember Ashley Irwin, the 17 year old AuGres native recently killed in a car accident who had a fondness for raising and caring for horses.

“It’s going to be a 4-H event with proceeds going to Ashley Irwin Memorial,” said the event’s coordinator, Scott Cunningham. “My kids and her were in the same club showing horses and that.”

He also added funds collected during the show through a silent auction and other events will go towards assisting Irwin’s surviving parents, Cindy and Bill Irwin, who Cunningham said approved of the memorial event, in funeral expenses.

Cunningham says the idea to hold the memorial came to him while he was at the funeral home during visitation time for Ashley after her untimely death. He says other family friends also thought it would be an appropriate event to remember Ashley.

From there, the memorial started to take shape. Cunningham says it will feature several horseracing events.

“They run barrels, they run poles,” he said, adding the barrel racing will be similar to what one may see during a rodeo. When it comes to pole racing, Cunningham said, “They (riders) race down, they weave the poles back, then they weave them again, then they race back.

“It’s all in how fast you can get through it without touching anything.”

Cunningham says he is unsure how many riders will show up to take part in the contests, but he hopes for a high turnout overall.

“We could have 20 people show up, we could have a couple hundred,” he said.

The show will be held at the former Trailbreakers Horse Arena, now called the Elwood J. Young Memorial Horse Arena, located near the corner of Maple Ridge Road and Lehman Road. It is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. the morning of the 27th. For more information, call 989-751-7305 for Cunningham or 989-254-1073 to contact Julie Hill, co-coordinator of the show.

Keywords

Comments

Please keep comments on topic and appropriate for all ages. Remember that people of all ages read our website. Those that are not appropriate will be removed. Please read our full community guidelines before posting.